Beware of Scholarship Scams

Beware of Scholarship Scams

It happens every year. High school seniors and their parents are defrauded by scholarship scammers; people who promise to help them land scholarships and financial aid they wouldn't otherwise receive.Visit to : http://available-grant-money.blogspot.com

Estimates vary, but it seems likely that these crooks...and that is an appropriate word...collect in excess of $100 million annually from unsuspecting families.
They do it by preying on families worried about the cost of college; families who know little or nothing about scholarships and financial aid; families who are often easy targets.
First, families receive a letter from an organization with a name designed to sound like it was founded to help the families of college-bound students.
The letter doesn't look like typical junk mail. The logo often looks like that of an Ivy League college, and the letterhead and paper are generally on fairly high quality paper. Like the con men behind them, the promotional materials look credible.

The letters generally start by appealing to fearby talking about the high cost of college.

After a few sentences of doom and gloom about the high cost higher education, the sales message begins. We can help you get more in scholarships and financial aid, they say. We can tell you what colleges don't want you to know, they say. Work with us, they tpromise, and you won't have to be concerned about college costs.
Not all scammers use identical enticements in their letters, but they all conclude with an invitation to a free "seminar" on how to qualify for maximum scholarships and financial aid. So, families who believe they have nothing to lose flock to hotel meeting rooms, business centers, and sometimes even churches or library function rooms to listen and learn. Like insects landing on a spider web, they never see the trap coming.
The meetings are run by well- practiced pitchmen who tell families they have the special knowledge and experience required to shake the most money off of the financial aid and scholarship trees. In reality, they want to sell you services and help which are readily...that's right, readily... available elsewhere. At no cost.
The initial presentation is followed by an individual meeting with a high pressure salesperson who uses a well-formulated approach...like those of the very worst car salespersons...developed to collect up to $2,000 and a signed contract from families before they have had too much time to think about it.

Every year, a new set of potential victims come along. But, you and your family can avoid these masters-of-rip-off by turning to the people who really do have your best interests at heart...school counselors and college financial aid professionals. http://available-grant-money.blogspot.com